Out of the many I visited, I will highlight two special towns in to which a grain elevator pulled me off the highway. I know I said last week in my post about Small Town Saskatchewan, I wouldn’t post anymore pictures of grain elevators, but as this post needed a feature image….well, you get one more.
Arcola, Saskatchewan
While driving East on Highway 13 (The Red Coat Trail) with my sister, we did not stop in Arcola even though it boasted a grain elevator. By this time, we had to start limiting how many grain elevators we stopped for. We didn’t have endless time, as we had to be in my hometown by a set date.
So, after the first couple days of braking for every grain elevator, we started setting criteria. One was how far it was off the main highway. I promised myself I would stop at all the missed elevators on my return journey. Just such a town was Arcola. I am so glad I stopped, not only did it boast a fantastic grain elevator, but also beautiful brickwork architecture and a great little antique store, Arcola Antiques & Collectables. The proprietor, Jim Paton, was a genia bespectacled man, dressed in blue jeans, blue dress shirt and suspenders, topped off by a train conductor’s cap. Read a newspaper article about him here.
We had a lovely chat and I learned that there use to be a brickworks in town, which is where the material for all the brick buildings came from.
Abbey Saskatchewan
What a hidden treasure this town turned out to be. After taking pictures of the grain elevator – featured image at top of post – I drove around town and came across some amazing old buildings, of particular note, the old fire hall…
and the United Church.
While I was standing on the street taking pictures of the fire hall, a townswoman came by and invited me in to see the beautiful stained-glass windows in the United Church.
They were constructed by a local man, who has since retired to Victoria. I have been given his contact information and I look forward to meeting him. (Which I hope will turn into an article or at the very least a blog post.)
Not only did this lovely townswoman (Sharon) allow me to use the washroom, she also gave me a cold bottle of water to take on my journey
Arcola and Abbey welcomed me. I will be forever wanting to return.
Have you ever visited either Arcola or Abbey?
Do you have a small town story of welcome?
Leave a comment and tell me about them.